By Jason Coleman
As all horror aficionados know, you can’t keep a good serial killer down. Which is why filmmaker Adam Green, the director behind such chilling fare as Spiral and Frozen, is heading back to Hatchet land. That’s right fright fans, Green and the illustrious Dark Sky Films (the geniuses behind those nostalgic Drive-In Double Feature DVD’s!) have teamed up to bring HATCHET 2 (slated for an October 2010 release) to all the bloodthirsty boys and ghouls and it looks to be even better then the first.
The movie follows Halloween alum Danielle Harris as Marybeth (played by Tamara Feldman in the original film) who escapes from deranged killer Victor Crowley, learns the truth about his curse and heads on back to the New Orleans swamp to get some payback. (Aka there is some serious female kicking ass action this time around!) We got an invite to head on down to the L.A. set of Hatchet 2 to check out all the exciting blood and gore happenings firsthand – the good, the bad and the Crowley.
Welcome to Gore Land! (Kane Hodder)
ARRIVAL: I arrive at Occidental Studios and am greeted immediately by none other then…Director Adam Green! He’s outside on a smoke break and greets me with open arms. We chat and I tell him I’m looking forward to not only check things out inside, but seeing his new film Frozen. He gets the fan in me right away and offers to take me through the set – personally. We enter and right away I see a looming dark forest ahead of me – pretty impressive for a small soundstage. He takes me in and we come upon none other than Victor Crawley’s house! The outside looks exactly like it did in the first film, but now I actually get to enter. (At my own risk of course!) There is some seriously detailed set design, with beaten walls, unkempt floors and even a messy kitchen where it looks like a freight train has rolled on through. (More likely an angry Victor!)
Hatchet 2 set being built!
Adam talks to me a bit about the shooting (injuries galore!), the amount of blood that he’s used on this flick (rumored to be in the 120 gallon range!) and how everyone’s getting sick from the smoke machine and leaf-ridden environment. (I knew there was a reason everyone was wearing those white mouth cup masks!) But he’s only shooting here for a few more days and then the gang is heading down to the actual swamps down in Louisiana to keeps things real. (Watch out for gators!) I also ask him about the rumor of someone leaving the set for moral reasons and he concedes that a boom operator whom he also worked with on Frozen did leave due to content problems – sounds like this sequel is gonna be good!
THE ACTION: Adam heads into the set and I go into a nearby wooded room where a bevy of monitors awaits to display the action. Adam is going over an action sequence with a very hot yet uber-tough looking Danielle Harris and a fully made up Kane Hodder reprising his role as the psycho Victor Crawley. (Plus equally large bearded tough guy R.A. Mihailoff, playing a hunter recruited to track down Crawley, is present as well!) Adam sets his camera just behind the shoulder of the massive Hodder to catch a little Harris rage in full frame. After some chat he heads over to the monitor and calls action. Harris raises a massive gun and hurls her small frame towards Crawley in vengeance mode – butt end of the gun front and center. She is ultimately thwarted by the hulking and over-powering Crawley, but the rage and determination in her small frame is something to watch indeed. (Plus did I mention she looks hotter then hell!) Even when Adam yells cut, he can’t help but remarking, ‘That was awesome!’
Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) will live to kill again!
BEHIND THE SCENES: Not only is there a ton of amazing on-set stuff to see (including actor AJ “House of the Devil” Bowen working as a set security man for the day and Production Assistant Cody Blue Snider, son of Twisted Sister Dee Snider, running through the set in his underwear!), but behind the scenes was equally as cool. I head back to the offices where I meet some of the films producers, a Dark Sky rep (I told him the Texas Chainsaw 2-Disc Ultimate Edition rocked!) and even passed by Director Tom “Fright Night” Holland in the halls. (He’s playing a role in the film!) But the mecca had to be the make-up effects room where I was immediately greeted by a full head cast of Tony “Candyman” Todd just sitting on the shelf. (As well as an assortment of various body parts – never know when you may need a severed arm or a leg!) Plus the special effects team are currently hard at work on a headless life cast of Todd, who is reprising his role as Rev. Zombie, for an effect they say is gonna rock slasher fans’ socks off – can’t wait!
THE BREAK: As with all movie sets, breaks and food go hand in hand Hatchet 2 is no exception. I’m treated to a bountiful lunch with multiple selections and am invited to eat with the illustrious cast. Harris, Todd, and Bowen are as interesting as the eats and treats, but I still can’t wait to sit them all down and get the skinny on their characters, the movie and their famed past work – the real dessert for the film fan!
So that’s the skinny on the set happenings for Hatchet 2 – but stay tuned! In due time we’” have interviews with R.A. Mihailoff, AJ Bowen, Tony Todd and the lovely and revealing Danielle Harris that you won’t want to miss! Viva la Crawley!
